Recycling Stories: City of Novi

By most accounts, the City of Novi, located in southeast Michigan, is a first class community, with great neighborhoods and parks, outstanding schools, and a well-run city government. In 2015, however, city leaders realized that its solid waste and recycling system no longer fully met the needs of the community and didn’t comport with best practices throughout Michigan and the United States.

Novi was the only city of its size in Oakland County that did not have a single hauler ordinance, instead requiring individual homeowners or subdivisions to negotiate contracts on their own and subscribe independently for services. That method served the City well for many years, but rising prices and complaints from residents about inconsistent services showed the need for change. The subscription-based collection system resulted in a lack of uniform services throughout the city, as many as four different haulers collecting on different days in neighborhoods, increased truck traffic, wear and tear on roads, and high prices. Furthermore, the City had no means of addressing service quality issues.

City leaders determined that a citywide contract with a private sector service provider was the solution. The City followed a comprehensive and open process of adopting new ordinances and soliciting competitive proposals for review by the City.

As a result, the City awarded a contract to Waste Management to provide comprehensive curbside services as of July 1, 2016. Service includes weekly refuse collection in 96-gallon carts, weekly recycling collection in 64-gallon carts, seasonal yard waste collection in paper bags or marked containers, and unlimited bulk item pick up.

The new system has provided a significant impact, which includes the following: 

Improved services, in terms of both quality and type. The service package represented an upgrade from the types of services previously provided and the City is now able to leverage its contract to ensure service quality.

Uniform services. Neighborhoods no longer have to deal with trash being set out at the curb more than one day a week.

Reduced truck traffic. The reduction in the number of haulers and routes in the City has reduced solid waste truck traffic and the City is hbetter able to control the hours of service.

Lower pricing. The new contract price, even with the upgrade to services, was 33% below the average subscription price in the City.

Improved recycling performance. Prior to the City’s new contract, some homeowners did not have curbside recycling service although their service costs were higher than the City’s contract cost. Now each homeowner has a 64-gallon recycling cart with the recycling guidelines printed on the lid. The results have been dramatic. More than 88% of homeowners participate in recycling each week, with nearly 800 pounds per household being collected on average during the first year of the contract, placing Novi among the best performing cities in the country. More than 4,000 tons of recyclables were collected and processed for market, giving the City an overall recycling rate of more than 40%.

Improved services, reduced truck traffic, lower prices, and recycling performance among the best in the country. First class, indeed.